Inherited Collection....What to do?

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G

GoinLoco

New Member
Actually, I inherited the task of liquidating the collection for my mother-in-law. My father-in-law passed away 5 years ago next week and he had built a sizable train collection over a forty year time period. The mother-in-law has asked me to figure out what is what, and start selling it off to help her with the bills. I really don't know where to start. My father-in-law really loved his trains and I want to make sure that I do this right for him. I tried to find a "price guide" at the book store but didn't had any luck. Is there a website that might help me out? What's the best way to sell a collection, as a whole or piece by piece? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here's some of the brand names:

AHM
Athearn
IHC
Mantua
Life-Like
Scene Master
Roundhouse
Bachmann
Tyco
Bev-Bel
Model Power
 
I guess I should have mentioned most of the trains are HO scale. There are also a few N scale.

Anyone familiar with a train called the Flying Scot? I found one on the internet selling for $800.00. Is it really that valuable?
 
Well, most of the items you have listed have very little value at all. the Life-like, Bachman, and Tyco have almost none. The only ones worht listing are the AHM, Athearn and Bev-Bel (which are generally Athearn cars that have been pro repainted).
So now, narrow down the collection dependant upon that and then list what you have left.
 


Different trains and types of trains can be worth anything from a lot to nothing. The Flying Scotsman you saw was probably brass and $800 is not an unusually high price for brass.

As Thoroughbreed wrote, Bachmann, Life-Like, Tyco, Model Power, and AHM/IHC equipment have very little value on the used market. Depending on the age of even these brands, some of the locomotives (except for Tyco) may have some value to a model railroader. I doubt if much, if any, of your FIL's collection has any collectors value.

You didn't mention where you're located. My best advice is to locate a hobby shop that specializes in trains. Make a list of all the equipment by manufacturer and bring in a few samples. Most hobby shop owners, even if they aren't buyers, will be happy to help you separate the essentially worthless items from those that have value. If there's a model railroad club near you, a call or e-mail to the club should get you similar advice. You may be able to sell some stuff to the hobby shop or club members. Most of these guys are pretty fair. If any of these knowledgeable sources find an item with real value, that's one should should consider listing on e-bay.

How many pieces do you have to sell? If it's less than a few hundred, you're probably better off selling the standard, low value items as one lot at a buck a piece for cars and maybe $5 to $10 a piece for locomotives. If it's over 500 pieces, you should check for any train shows coming to you vicinity and consider renting a selling space. This a good season of the year to be selling standard train set equipment and you can probably sell a good percentage of the collection at one train show.
 
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I went to an Auction last year for an estate sale. They were trying to sell all the trains & accessories before the Auction to a club or an individual. The items were the same thing you have. AHM, Varney, LifeLike, Tyco & a ton of other off brand stuff. There was about 50 guys there & no one bought anything. The people were asking $200.00 for engines that I can get at a train show for about $25.00 or less. They thought they had a goldmine in trains. Everyone that was there to buy tried to tell them it wasn't worth anything. I think they got a hundred bucks when they finally put it on the auction block.
There was about 100 engines, 300 freight cars, etc.
99% of them had been in an attic for about 20 years. They tried to get some of them running & couldn't.
Don't give up trying to get what you are asking. Maybe someone won't know what they're worth & buy everything you have at top dollar.
The only thing that usually brings the best price is Mantua.

Larry
 
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